Loss of Dunbar delivers another challenge to Cowboys

Cowboys RB Lance Dunbar's season was ended by a knee injury suffered against the Saints.

Cowboys RB Lance Dunbar's season was ended by a knee injury...

IRVING - Already 0-2 without injured stars Tony Romo and Dez Bryant, Dallas must move on without the versatility of running back Lance Dunbar because of a season-ending knee injury.

Next up is undefeated Super Bowl champion New England, followed by the surging New York Giants and Seattle. The only relief is the open date next week, after Tom Brady and the Patriots (3-0) make their first visit to the $1.2 billion home of the Cowboys on Sunday.

So after a 26-20 loss to New Orleans on Drew Brees' 80-yard touchdown pass to C.J. Spiller on the second play of overtime, the Cowboys (2-2) were left with the disappointment of a missed chance as they try to find ways to win until Romo returns from his broken left collarbone - at least five more games.

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"That's never really been an issue for us as a team," coach Jason Garrett said Monday. "Somehow, some way we come back the next week regardless of what the result was and you get ready for the next challenge. That's what we believe in around here."

Garrett said Dunbar appeared to have a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, an injury suffered when he was returning the second-half kickoff against the Saints. An MRI was to determine the extent of the damage.

The fourth-year player had 54 yards rushing at halftime. The only other time he had more - 82 yards against Oakland on Thanksgiving 2013 - he suffered another season-ending left knee injury.

Before his season high in rushing, he was leading NFL backs in receiving yards and was tied in catches.

"To say we have someone in-house who is going to do those same kinds of things, I don't know that we have somebody like that," Garrett said. "But we have guys in-house who can do different things and hopefully we'll play to those strengths."

Bryant, who has missed the past three games with a broken right foot, is likely to return before Romo, perhaps by month's end.

Lee suffers concussion

Dallas lost cornerback Orlando Scandrick to a season-ending knee injury in training camp, and linebacker Sean Lee left the New Orleans game with a concussion after going into the game as the NFL's leading tackler.

Receiver Brice Butler, who came in a trade to add depth after Bryant's injury, is sidelined by a hamstring problem. And backup linebacker Andrew Gachkar has a foot injury that triggered the game-winning sequence for the Saints when he left the game and Spiller beat his replacement, rookie Damien Wilson, up the sideline on the next play.

There are reinforcements coming with the end of four-game suspensions for linebacker Rolando McClain (substance abuse) and defensive end Greg Hardy (domestic violence).